Today's Atlanta Journal & Constitution had a small feature about the billion dollar development Wolf Creek, which will primarily will be in Carroll County though Douglas County will aid in the development. The purpose of the article was to highlight on the lack of viable water that will be provided in the future. Because North Georgia is developing at alarming percentage, water resources are finally coming to a stress level that will cause serious problems in the next few years.

Even if Wolf Creek was never developed, water will still be a problem outside Metro Atlanta even if that natural resource is prevalent throughout Douglas County. Politics has guaranteed this water epidemic by letting developers dictate policy while affiliations with politicians pocket greenbacks.

One example is how Douglas County does not receive any treated water from Sweetwater Creek due to irresponsible politics during the 1950s. Instead of using this plentiful resource to support the community it was sold off to the City of East Point. Near Riverside Parkway is a pumping station that sends water to the City of East Point where it should be used for residents in Douglas County.

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Those of you who have had a chance to pick up the current copy of Chapel Hill News & Views can turn to page 78 to read an article I wrote (though was not credited) about the Losing Georgia Project. I'd like to thank Tim Collins for letting this article being published after some disputes about content and controversy. The more people that learn about this project, the better the community can understand the story behind the daily loss called Douglas County.

Chapel Hill News & Views can be picked up for free at numerous locations across Douglas County. 

I finally had time to write out a brief article on the history of Arnold's Mill located on Anneewakee Creek. The article includes a picture I took on the opposite side of the creek where you can see the rock foundation and the start of Anneewakee Falls. The ruins stand in a beautiful area that is being demolished by subdivisions. The only protection the ruins have is under the county's code for buffer zones along waterways. The developer, Anneewakee Falls, Inc., has no plans of destroying the remains they did not have a plan to preserve the ruins.

You can view the article here.

The Losing Georgia: Interactive Tour has been updated with 3 new photos for new developments as well as 2 new overlays for the Douglasville Marketplace and Chapel Hill Centre. You can download the kmz file or head over to the overview page if you are unfamiliar with the Interactive Tour. Below is a list of additions and updates:

New Developments

1. The Estates at St. Patricks Way
2. Douglasville Marketplace Car Wash
3. Unknown St. Andrews subdivision

Added Photos

1. The Estates at St. Patricks Way
2. Douglasville Marketplace Car Wash
3. Unknown St. Andrews subdivision

Overlay

1. Douglasville Marketplace
2. Chapel Hill Centre

I've been adding images of each development to the Development List to reflect the data that is in the Interactive Tour. This weekend I plan to do drive around to update some information that might be outstanding. Once all available images are uploaded, I will start to concentrate on writing up an assessment for each one as my free time allows me. 

I had a chance to watch the movie Over the Hedge, which is a great animated film for both kids and adults, that is about animals gathering junk food. However there is an underlying storyline that does play throughout the movie – the push to eradicate natural habitats for suburbs. It is a common act nowadays as population continues to grow by an alarming rate more subdivisions are being built in places where forests used to thrive.

Wildlife is being displaced as natural habitats disappear at an increasing percentage. Though developers are required to provide an amount of green space, the small amounts are not justifiable when clearing cutting seems to be the issue. In the movie RJ the raccoon has a layout of the subdivision and the audience can see the green space area, which is very small compared to the total layout of the subdivision.

Many subdivisions in Douglas County reflect those of the movie where houses generally look the same with small yards. Residents don’t give much care about the “rodents” that come out of the forest to gather food. People should stop complaining about animals entering their yards/houses when it is the humans who destroy the natural habitat that the animals depend on.

The Losing Georgia Project will be debuted at the Ashford Photography booth at the Taste of Douglasville Arts Festival on Saturday, May 20 at O'Neal Plaza in downtown Douglasville. I will have four of the twenty five gallery pieces on display with information on each piece as well as pictures that have not been released on the website. A free brochure will provided if anyone is interested in the Losing Georgia Project or the history and growth of Douglas County. Come out and enjoy some of the local arts and food, pending a 30% chance of rain (let's hope not).

I have added panoramic for an unknown subdivision along Georgia Highway 92 on the photos page. The Losing Georgia: Interactive Tour has been updated with 5 new photos for current developments and the addition of three new developments. You can download the kmz file or head over to the overview page if you are unfamiliar with the Interactive Tour. Below is a list of additions and updates:

New Developments

1. Mount Zion Church expansion
2. All Seasons Storage
3. Kensington Park

Added Photos

1. Mount Zion Church expansion
2. All Seasons Storage
3. Kensington Park
4. Unknown development - Georgia Highway 5
5. Unknown subdivision - Georgia Highway 92

If you have/haven't noticed, the Locations link in the navigation menu is now gone. This is due to the newly developed Locations page which is now called the Development List and located under the Resources. Though the list may look the same, I have now provided a link for each development which will now display a new page with more detailed information and an article if available. Hyperlinks are available for both the development and the developer if a website does exist. Residential developments provide extra information like the amount of lots and in the future the homebuilders associated with a subdivision. 

More features will be coming soon that will include a few photos from each development besides the photographs provided in the image gallery. Also some statistical data concerning lots sizes, lots per acre, total acreage used for developing in the County and much more. Don't expect these updates until a month from now or more. 

I'm working on a new location page which will let the user click on a development name to see the details of the development. The details provided will be like the information presented in the Interactive Tour. The test model is somewhat working to an extent, but I have a lot of coding and image work to complete before it will be released. This may take a week or longer for me to finish since I have to work around 103 developments.